Far Mantis

by Jim Henderson

  All-in-all, the jump went quickly.

  When they came out of jump at 754-390, Ximon had Mantis and Shao check everything carefully. He was relieved to find that they’d come out of jump almost exactly where he had planned. With a newly repaired or adjusted jump drive, one can’t be too careful. Ximon then had Shao conduct detailed planetary scans as the KSF had little information about the system or its planets.

  The 754-390 system was another system with no real stations to refuel at and no gas giants. Mantis again had to enter the atmosphere of its only planet with liquid water on the surface and skim fuel from a lake. Ximon felt a bit bad for using such diverse unrefined fuel, but Elsbeth and Peter were changing filters far more frequently and they had no choice.

  After skimming, they headed for a jump point and jumped to the Fetjemaus system and then did a double jump to the Oneryt-7 System.

  Oneryt-7 was yet another system where they had to skim water for fuel. The planet did have a few very basic stations that they could have utilized—three on the surface and one in orbit.

  However, Elsbeth said, “All the ground stations are doing is pumping the water out of lake for you and charging you for the service. They do some crude refining on it to send it up to the orbiting station as a gas, but I wouldn’t call it ‘refined.’ We’re probably safer just skimming ourselves.”

  So, Ximon skimmed instead. He exchanged greetings with a couple of the stations, but they weren’t really interested unless you were stopping to buy or sell something.

  From Oneryt-7, they jumped to the Rircan System in the Xalanan Sector. Rircan had a fairly small, weak sun and a gas giant in a fairly close orbit around it. So, Ximon brought Mantis out of jump between the sun and the gas giant. His plan was to head immediately for the giant to skim.

  However, Shao detected something closer in towards the sun. “Captain, I’m detecting a vessel at long range, within 1 AU of the sun. I’m also getting some kind of strange patterns in that area. Too far to get much detail on the vessel yet.”

  Ximon started accelerating in that direction, largely to gather velocity in case they might need to run. He hailed them, “UI Vessel. This is Kremniy Republic Scout Vessel Mantis on a long-range survey mission. Please identify and state your business.”

  They were at great distance so it took about twenty minutes to get an answer. It came in the form of a video message. The screen filled with a heavily bearded man of about forty. He wore a plain green flight suit that looked like it hadn’t been washed for a while. The bridge behind him looked fairly dingy.

  The man said, “Oi, Mantis. This is Captain Aron of the Free Merchantman Ares Miota. I see you’re squawking Identification Friend of Foe (IFF) for the Republic Scouts, but I can’t be sure you are who you say you are. If you’re not, just know that you won’t find us easy prey. If you are a scout, then you should hightail it up here; I’d think you’d want to see this—Sun Skimmers.”

  With that, he switched the feed so that it showed what was apparently a view outside their ship. Between the Ares Miota and the sun, they could see several large hexagonal shapes moving about. Then the message ended.

  Shao reviewed her console. “Captain, he is squawking as an unaligned freighter. Size appears to be between one hundred to one thousand tons. I’m not sure what those shapes are, but that is the pattern I’m seeing at long range. They’re definitely moving, though most of them not terribly fast.”

  Ximon pointed forward and nodded. “Okay, moving closer. Keep scanning and watch for anything else.”

  He switched to internship communications and send a reply. “Ares Miota, this is Captain Ximon Sabo of the Mantis. We are, indeed, a Scout Craft. We are heading in that general direction to see what you’ve shown us. We mean you no harm. As you mentioned, if you’re other than what you say, you won’t find us easy prey either.”

  Shao refined her estimates of the Ares Miota as they got closer, finally settling on three hundred tons.

  They got a reply from Aron, “Oi Sabo. No skin off my nose unless you start locking on us or get too close. We’re just filling our hold.”

  By this time, they had some decent long-range imagery on the hexagonal shapes. Shao estimated them at two hundred to one thousand meters at their widest and they were clearly moving and changing shapes. They were basically slightly irregular hexagons with semi-rigid arms radiating from the center, and extremely thin material in between the arms.

  Mantis said, “The imagery does, indeed, fit descriptions of creatures known as ‘sun skimmers’, ‘solar rays’, ‘riders on the solar wind’, and other names. They’re generally considered to be quite rare, but some sources have speculated they might be extinct or even mythical. They apparently use solar radiation pressure as a means of propulsion and adjust their shapes to change course. They can move fairly quickly this close to a sun, but only slowly between solar systems. This would appear to be a migration of them.”

  Shao added, “There are several hundred of them of varying size, some approaching the sun and some moving away from it. Some seem to be repeatedly approaching and then departing, as if they’re ‘playing’ in the sun’s rays.”

  Ximon signaled Mantis’ crew. “Get up here. You’ve got to see this.”

  “The Ares Miota is firing, apparently at the skimmers,” Shao said, alarm and disbelief mingling in her voice.

  They were much closer now so there was little lag.

  Ximon hailed them. “Aron, why are you firing? Are the shapes dangerous?”

  Aron replied in a flippant tone. “They can be if you don’t get out of the way, but like I said, we’re just filling our hold.”

  “You’re hunting them?”

  “Yep, it’s just like hunting a flock of birds or something, just bigger. I’ve heard they can be valuable. Don’t worry. We’re just about done.”

  “I understand they’re rare. Aren’t they a protected species?”

  “Not sure what laws you may have back home, but there ain’t no one out here to make a law about that kind of thing and your laws don’t apply.”

  Mantis interjected, “Captain, he is quite right. Republic statutes do not apply here. There is no precedent for restricting this activity.”

  Ximon gave up. They then just took all the scans and imagery of the skimmers that they could. Ares Miota shot a few more and then went about gathering ones they’d killed. It looked like a dozen or more, but the ‘flock’ included hundreds of skimmers, so it was a small percentage.

  Finally, Aron messaged, “Well, Sabo, we’re heading out. Have fun out there.” They then headed toward a jump point.

  Ximon continued monitoring the skimmers for a few more hours until all but a few were heading toward the outer edges of the system. They found a section of one skimmer that the Ares Miota had killed, but didn’t, or couldn’t, take. Mantis suggested that collecting that section, or a portion of it, could provide useful data on the species.

  Elsbeth stared at it skeptically. “That thing is huge. How are we going to make it fit?”

  The section was wedge-shaped and almost one hundred meters long, larger than the Mantis.

  Ximon shrugged. “Yeah, but Ares Miota took several that were much larger than that. They must condense a great deal. Let’s see what we can do. Peter and Raiza, why don’t you EVA on this. If you can figure out how to fold it into the ship, do so. If not, Raiza, take whatever sections or samples you consider best.”

  They both silently nodded.

  “I’ll back them up from the cargo bay,” Elsbeth said.

  The EVA went well, and they found that, though the creature section was huge it had very little bulk. By rolling it lengthwise they almost got it to fit. To ensure they had enough space, they cut it in half lengthwise, so they wound up with one twelfth of a skimmer and still had enough room to move cargo around.

  Ximon asked Mantis, “Mantis, please project likely course and speed for the ‘flock’ of skimmers. Some Republic research team may want to try to track them in
deep space.”

  “Yes, Captain. I have developed a range of projections.”

  “Thanks. Okay, let’s get out of here.”

  He directed Mantis toward a jump point and then they jumped briefly through the Thapanza and Qesenai Systems, encountering little of interest. Finally, they jumped toward the Xalanan System.

  While in jump, Ximon gathered everyone together over a delicious dinner that Raiza had made.

  He signaled for quiet and held up a notebook. “So, a few months back, I asked y’all to work on ‘wishlists’ of things you might recommend as upgrades to Mantis or our gear. Please clean those up and let’s discuss on our last night before coming out of jump. Doing all the paperwork, equipment turnover, and so forth on Xalanan is probably going to take a few weeks. So, we might be able to fit some of the stuff in. If we do, you’ll each need to be involved, but you should get a week or two off.”

  “Well, with our latest engine problems” said Elsbeth, “I’ve got to add some more stuff.”

  “I would expect nothing else. Just please finish your lists.”

  When they went over the lists a few days later they were fairly extensive and all quite different.

  Shao had a detailed slide show detailing the cost and expected return on investment of each item. She suggested replacing some sensor processing units, upgrading the sensor arrays in several bands, and replacing some receivers. The total price was about two hundred KCR, but that was far cheaper than some entire system replacements that she priced at about one MCR.

  Elsbeth and Peter had a hand-written list that included some tools, some diagnostics equipment, and then expensive options for jump coil replacement and outrageously expensive replacement of the entire jump drive. Peter also had some loading equipment and storage racks for the cargo bay.

  Ximon feigned shock. “What? No slides?”

  Elsbeth smirked. “You’re lucky it’s not in crayon. If you give me grief, I’ll add zeroes to everything.”

  “No, we’re good.”

  Ximon turned to Raiza. “What do you have, my dear?”

  “I, too, lack slides, but I hope this is clear.”

  She then had Mantis display several lists and briefly discussed them. A few were items she had previously had on a list of training options, but some were new. Her top training priorities were:

  “Basic Non-Human Medical Care” training routine, 120 minutes

  “Intermediate Robot Repair” training routine, 180 minutes

  “Basic Xenobiology” training routine, 90 minutes

  She also had some basic medical supplies, some fairly expensive pieces of medical equipment, and some equipment for robot maintenance.

  Peter also had a list of recommended training courses, including:

  “Basic Robot Repair” training routine, 180 minutes

  “Intermediate Electrical Repair” training routine, 120 minutes

  Once Raiza had pointed out the last items, she turned back toward Ximon. “Xalanan does have a small branch office of TSR. However, we’ll have to wait to find out exactly what of this training, or possibly others, that they offer. I also can’t be sure, but I don’t think we can count on the same discounts at this branch office that we typically receive at the one on Tixaya.”

  Mantis also presented a list that she and Elsbeth had compiled on computer hardware and software upgrades. It included some enhanced processing capability, additional memory, and additional fast access data storage.

  After all that, Ximon looked beaten. “That’s quite a list. I’ll do some pondering and then we’ll see what of that we can reasonably do on Xalanan.”

  Elsbeth cut in. “I didn’t specifically list it, but you’ll recall we also have to decide what to do regarding the air raft that’s been sitting in storage for months now. I gave you those estimates months ago.”

  “Right, but I’m definitely going to wait to tackle that until we get back to Tixaya.” He faced the group. “Thanks everyone. I’ll let you know what I come up with.”

  Mantis spoke up helpfully. “Captain, I have collected all of the lists and am compiling them into a standardized format. If it would help, we could prioritize them and come up with different cost models. As soon as we near Xalanan, I’ll try to get updated cost data for everything.”

  “Yes, thank you Mantis. That should help.”

  They came out of jump in the Xalanan System without incident and made their way to the main planet. As they approached Ximon contacted the KSF Base and said they had multiple missions of consequence to discuss. He eventually spoke to a Commander Sherton in Operations and summarized the missions and the find of the station of grey men. Sherton was obviously impressed with the volume of stuff they had to address. He set up to have a team meet Mantis when it landed and then had a controller assign them a landing bay.

  Sherton came back on radio. “As noted, we’ll have an initial team meet with you upon landing. However, please plan to come see me at 1100 tomorrow to discuss further.”

  “Yes, Commander. I’ll see you then.”

  When they landed at the designated landing bay, there was a team there to meet them. It was led by a LCDR Jurwa, a striking, black woman. She had a team of technicians and some medical folks with her.

  The crew all came down the ramp to meet them.

  Jurwa extended her hand. “Welcome, Captain. I’m told you have a lot for us. Would you please summarize so we don’t miss anything?”

  Ximon said, “Okay, let’s see. First, we’ve got several sensor systems that we recovered from the Darcy system per orders of Captain MacCorryn of the Eon Explorer. Next, we have a bunch of artifacts and other items from Onzarhat where we delivered Ambassador Douhat, again at the behest of Captain MacCorryn. Then, we have a bunch of data, some parts, and a few frozen aliens of a type previously unknown that we recovered from an asteroid in 729-ADX. Finally, we have a portion of a ‘star skimmer’ that we encountered in a ‘flock’ in the Rircan system.”

  Jurwa’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s quite a haul.”

  “Yes, and it’s frankly been a pain to fit it all in our little ship.”

  Elsbeth interjected, “Oh, and a ship.”

  Jurwa looked confused.

  Ximon paused to introduce everyone. He then explained, “We recovered a small ship or escape pod from the alien station on 729-ADX. Our Engineering team has been dissecting it, but it’s mostly together. Oh, and our computer has a partial translation of the greys’ language—that’s what we’re calling the little aliens. We also have reports and hours of footage of all of this.”

  Raiza added, “Commander, we also have the remains of an alien that attacked us on 729-ADX and samples from another alien that is still there. I should also add that there are ten to twelve more of the greys in cryo storage on the station.”

  “LGMs,” Elsbeth said under her breath.

  Jurwa either didn’t hear or ignored her. “Okay, wow! Never a dull moment, eh? Would you give us a brief tour and then we can see if we have everything we need?”

  Ximon nodded and motioned for her to follow. “Sure, come this way please.”

  They showed them all the stuff in the cargo bay and Raiza showed them the frozen samples and the greys in the cryo chambers.

  Jurwa wore an expression that clearly showed she was impressed. “Very impressive indeed. Okay, our medical team here will get the cryo chambers and the other medical specimens.”

  Raiza stepped in front of the cryo chambers. “Commander, I must again stress that the greys are clearly sentient beings. I do not believe that considering them specimens is appropriate.”

  “Duly noted, Medical Officer Sabo.” She then continued, “And our other technicians will gather the other items, though clearly we’ll need a couple trucks.”

  Jurwa oversaw everything as they gathered all the items over the next several hours.

  When they all finished, she said, “Most impressive work, Captain. Also, I’ve been in touch with Commander Sherton. He asks that
you bring your entire crew to the planned meeting tomorrow.”

  “As you wish. We’ll be there.”

  After that, the crew all rested and completed reports and notes. It was a relief to be ‘unburdened’ but most of them had felt some attachment to what they were working on.

  They met Sherton, Jurwa, and a team of other KSF personnel in a large conference room in KSF Operations.

  Ximon again introduced everyone. This everyone included Mantis’ telebot, Ayah, and Euclidia. Ximon brought them to show the whole team and in case there were further questions.

  Sherton started, “Ximon. If I may call you Ximon?”

  “Please do.”

  “Ximon. We’ve only started to look at all the stuff you’ve brought. It’s all useful and informative, but the stuff from 729-ADX is most fascinating. As far as we can tell, you’ve discovered an alien race that was previously unknown and you’ve brought a couple of them back with you, albeit frozen. That, coupled with their language and their artifacts, is of immense value. Studying it is also an overwhelming task. We have experts that specialize in this kind of thing, but we need your help to know how to begin efficiently.”

  “We tried to be as clear as possible in our reports and we provided extensive video.”

  “Yes, but we’d like more,” Sherton said. “Over the next few days, different teams will begin investigation efforts on some of these elements. We would ask that the appropriate members of your unique crew be in attendance. We would like your crew to work with these teams for at least a few days to get them started. It would greatly enhance the research. What do you say?”

  “I have no opposition and will help all I can. Crew?”

  They all shrugged or signaled ascent.

  “Okay, where would you like us to begin?”